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Tenebris Shades
The Tenebris Shades are a non-''Codex'' compliant Loyalist Astartes chapter of an Unknown Founding that hails from one of the Chapters of Dark Angels lineage, the first sign to their secretive nature. They are masters of covert operations as well as stealth assaults, often there allies never even know that they helped or intervened in any way. Chapter History Much of the information available on them, even to that of senior officials within the Imperium or other Chapters, is either highly classified or outright falsified to appear mundane. As they do not normally purge humans like the Grey Knights, unless a Fallen is involved with the mission, there are sometimes rumors of there existence which only helps with there sinister reputation to there enemies. There first members were veteran marines from various Unforgiven chapters that had done a tour of service with the Deathwatch or had dealt with similar missions against other threats, along with reserve and scout companies pulled from the death world of Igora. From there they used there elite kill team training from there time in the Deathwatch to mold the recruits into formidable warriors trained in all types of warfare as well as subterfuge. Chapter Homeworld There homeworld is Igora, a feral death world full of primal humans that mostly involve themselves in death cults and tribal warfare when there not beating back giant monsters. Long ago it was a more civilized earth like planet prior to an unknown cataclysm that ripped the landscape apart and set off a chain reaction with the unstable volcanic activity already present within the crust that blew out every volcano and volcanic vent on the planet, blanketing much of the world in ash for generations, before giving way to a massively fertile world that grew from the ash covered ground. Full of primal humans on par with a stone or bronze age human civilization, there only concept of the emperor that of a star god with angels of death that ride inside metal horses across the stars. Long ago in the planets age of heroes after the cataclysm a powerful but chaos tainted tribe tried to take over but was stopped by a unified army of most the other tribes, the final battle being on the ash wastes of of there main continent where they eventually erected the Fortress-Monastery of the Operators. To this day almost every tribe totally shuns Chaos outright & this is why they were not eradicated prior & garnered attention to the nearby Imperial station that protected them. It is said that daemons or warp tainted beats still stalk the more remote badlands of the planet, but with the overbearing presence of reptilian carnivores all over the planet they fit right in without fully taking over the planet. Agents of Subterfuge Besides recruitment for the chapter itself, they also recruit agents from the various worlds they explore. These agents are often high ranking warriors like a skilled mercenary or guard officer, most of which are sent to the Ash Keep for enhancement surgeries and indoctrination before being trained in many fields of galactic covert warfare like demolitions and linguistics. The Ash Keep There Fortress-Monastery is located in an area of the main continent that never fully recovered from the cataclysm, still blanketed in ash from nearby volcanoes, thus giving it the name of the Ash Keep. It's basement levels go almost to the edge of the planets crust as the expansive dungeons and passageways snake there way through the rock. Notable Campaigns Under Inquisitional Authority! Chapter Organisation Much of there rankings are the same as the Dark Angels or other Unforgiven chapters: Chapter-Master called a Grand Master, Captains called Masters, special Chaplains trained in interrogation, Knight ranks within the veteran companies, and an Inner Circle that is privy to dark secrets known only to the most trusted Sons of the Lion. The main changes from the layout in the Codex-Astartes & other Unforgiven chapters as well is there 3rd-9th companies. Inner Circle The members of the Inner Circle for this chapter is slightly higher than other Unforgiven chapters, this is because the first Chapter-Master envisioned a “chapter utterly dedicated to the Inner Circle's needs”. In practice less than half of the chapter is in the circle for obvious reasons but nevertheless several companies worth are: The entire Deathwing, half of the Ravenwing, all of the various Champions & Knights outside of those companies, most of the Chaplains, the senior Apothecaries and Librarians, the reserve & scout company Captains, the Cell Masters, and the honor guards for most of those mentioned, but one member that is rare for most Unforgiven chapters is the Master of the Forge. His inclusion is after a long time of loyalty testing before receiving the Master rank and grants the Inner Circle easier access to agents within the Adeptus Mechanicus as well as more use of there technologies to augment the chapter's own advanced technologies. Unforgiven Companies There veteran companies, or Unforgiven companies as there known to the chapter, are much the same as other Dark Angels successor chapters with a Deathwing company of Terminator clad elites & a Ravenwing company of fast attack crafts with about half part of the Inner Circle in some form, as such there secretive main goal is to eliminate all of the Fallen and anyone that deals with them if possible. Both use all black armor instead of white seen by most Deathwing companies or the normal chapter livery and most also do not use the camoline cloaks common with the rest of the Operators. As the chapter's covert nature requires, there Ravenwing company sometimes forgoes bikes for the quieter land speeders & aerial vehicles when possible although they keep many of the bikes ready just in case or when the terrain allows for there use, there Black Knights often still use there Mark IV assault bikes as a badge of office. While there Ravenwing company gears itself as the chapters spear like quick reaction stealth force its Deathwing is the chapters most powerful hammer used to smash enemy forces with little subtlety as they teleport in and lay waste to whatever they find in search of the Fallen or a more immediate goal. The main Deathwing members use a mix of ranged and close to be flexible in battle. The Deathwing knights use a storm shield and a powerful mace similar in function to there Dark Angels counterparts in that it has a type of powered up mode to better smite heavily armoured targets but they do not use the flail type weapons seen by some Dark Angel knights. Covert Cells The Third to Fifth companies are not normal battle companies but are instead split up into groupings called Cells that can number from a single elite warrior deep behind enemy lines to twenty Operators, along with possibly human agents or another chapter's astartes attached for a large scale joint operation to further a bigger military campaign. Within these Cells are some of the Sternguard and Vanguard veterans normally found in the veteran company. These small elite units usually penetrate enemy forces in some way or tap into there vox, streaming there findings to whomever is overseeing there mission. Each Cell is commanded by a Sargent, with a Cell Master being the equal to a company captain overseeing multiple Cells. The members of the most elite Cell's are called Cellknights, a Cell's version of a Knight found in the Unforgiven companies, and they form the senior inner circle members that lead the capture missions against Fallen & conduct search and destroy missions deemed critical to the Inner Circle in some way. Reserve & Scout Companies While there scout company is normal compared to the other companies of the chapter, there reserve companies, 6-9th company, are changed from other chapter even within the Unforgiven. There Reserve companies are instead of being 10 squads of the same layout are set up more like a battleline company: with 5 tactical squads, 3 assault squads, and 2 devastator squads. They are then further split up as needed to back up multiple cells at once. These companies are given armored vehicles when possible to better there survivability since the reserve companies see much more action compared to the reserves of other chapters, on par with a chapter's main battle companies, and when not in combat they keep there skills fresh by patrolling Igora and fighting all kinds of reptilian monsters and other horrors. From these factors also comes a higher death rate compared to normal reserve companies in other chapters, a fact they relish due to the extremely primal upbringing of the aspirants. Often used as a mop up force or to setup a perimeter to entrap a target for a Cell to capture. Champions, Operative-Errants, and non Unforgiven Knights Some of the most elite Operators are given a champion rank, often coming with a weapon or some other badge of office. Any that receive this kind of title also have to be ready to become a member of the Inner Circle as well. * One of the special champions is the Grand-Interrogator, a title that comes with three duties to uphold. One is being a high ranking Interrogator-Chaplain that is the chapter's Executioner and as such executes any Fallen that have repented as well as some other high ranking prisoner of the Chapter, a more often seen target of his massive axe and torture tools. Another part of his title is that of torture master for the chapter, making sure that any prisoners that do have info talk regardless of conditioning or zeal with the use of torture tool skill and manipulative speech to break them. He is also Master of the Watch and as such is the day to day commander of the defense of there homeworld and Fortress-Monastery, a fact that does not help the grim atmosphere visitors feel in the Ash Keep's monotonous hallways that are almost totally devoid of decoration besides defense turrets. Vanguard marines that join the Inner Circle usually become a Knight of some kind, Sternguard marines that join the Inner Circle usually become an Operative-Errant. Tasked with going alone and operating far being enemy lines to sow havoc and take any opportunity to hamstring the enemy, they are each an expert in every field of covert ops and have been known to dissappear for years before emerging with a trove of information and a highly trained militia at his back. Sometimes they will also be a part of a honor guard for an Inner Circle member in conjunction with the various Knights, or several operative-errants will group up into a true kill team if there is no chance of capture or the threat posed is to great to ignore. Many knights in the chapter make use of a plasma pistol or some combi weapon as there back up weapon. Besides the below listed knights the chapter has the normal Deathwing and Ravenwing Knights as well: * Cellknight- These veterans that uses a special melee weapon like the Deathwing Knights with the same smite ability to cleave heavy armor or vehicles. They form the honor guards for the Cell Masters and are can team up to create a Inner Circle capture team. * Techknight- Techmarines that are hand selected by the Master of the Forge, who is a member of the Inner Circle, to become the most powerfully equipped and upgraded of there specialty. They are handpicked by the Master of the Forge and thus the only other techmarines that can join the Inner Circle capture teams. Each has there Omnissian Axe plus a Storm Shield built onto a servo arm too keep there other hand free for item manipulation or a ranged weapon. Chapter Doctrine There main aim to for the enemy to never know that they were there until its to late, above all else they pride themselves on there covert abilities like infiltration an assassination as well as winning a battle before combat even begins. The chapter conducts its mission with the use of augmented human agents hidden within the enemies populace to sow deceit or gather intel while a small unit of operators or a platoon from the reserves waits for a certain target or other perimeter before striking. There human agents will conduct scouting missions to find out about an enemy populace, sometimes linking with resistance groups or starting one themselves. They will then do things like bomb spaceports, blow up priority infrastructure like bridges & tunnels, assassinate leaders, stir up the populace into an uprising, & sow fear into local troops so that they think they have already lost before the astartes even arrive. In combat they favor stealth and ambush assaults to minimize the length of battles much like a Deathwatch kill team would, there training being the original basis for the chapters training method. They will sometimes use a guard unit if they need to make distractions or to better blend in with a human population on to short of notice for there agents to integrate, but almost never on a mission involving a Fallen. The preferred regiment for this is the Mauryan Guard's 1532nd Combat Sappers better known as “Magadrha's Best”, who recruit skilled gangers from the underhive of the capital that know how to keep there mouth shut even from other Imperial authorities &/or under torture. Notable Members Grand Master Ozaris- Leader of the chapter and it's myriad of cells. When not actively hunting a lead himself he is commanding his chapter from the shadows, often even the Cell masters are unaware of the web they are a part of in relation to there peers. Wields a mastercrafted power mace and storm shield in terminator armour. Interrogator Chaplain Delraad- Cell commander that was tasked with destroying a chaos held hive world's capital, as well as secretly extracting the Fallen, one considered a skilled veteran before the heresy even started, that was trying to create a warband of his own on the world. This mission is one of the few that had non chapter personnel as the mission was very short notice and to important to wait. Notable Prisoners Moliten- Fallen that was captured by the Void Paladins while assisting the Cabal of Destiny. It is unknown what information or secrets were revealed to the Paladin's interrogators before a Cell found out. A small raid was made following a lead on Paladin deployments and an entire squad was captured and taken back to Igora for interrogation. None of the Paladins broke and gave up the location of Pueblo before being executed. Eventually a trade was made with the gene-seed and bodies of the lost squad in return for Moliten who by this point was barely more than a shell of his former self as the Paladins had utilized forbidden, to loyalist chapters, psychic techniques that had broken him completely. (To Be Added) Chapter Appearance Chapter Colours there armor is black & green diagonal stripes with an all back pauldron for there chapter badge and a white chest emblem of some kind. They will use another chapter's livery to blend in or get a job done if needed, including traitor colours when infiltrating chaos held cities, with few adornments beyond purity seals or a cloak on them normally. Most of there marines in general use a Camoline cloak instead of just the scout marines, though the Unforgiven companies do not. Many ambushes have used some camoline hidden devastator marines supporting operators that appear from all around the enemy and nowhere at the same time before disappearing just as quickly. Armour Variants When possible they use MkVI armour for there veteran members as its better for there stealth missions, while the reserve companies use normal MkVII armour seen by most chapters. There Ravenwing prefers MkVIII armour for the increased protection, and the Deathwing uses Terminator armour like most Unforgiven chapters. Chapter Badge The chapter's iconography is a simple white spiral on an all black pauldron with little if any squad or company markings, any that are used are in white. Chapter Relics As befitting a chapter attached to such an old and powerful founding chapter like the Dark Angels, as well as there dealings with other Imperial institutions, it is no wonder that they have a plethora of artificer and relic gear to use in there operations. Every member of there Unforgiven companies has the highest grade artificer armor and weaponry available. Many of the other veterans have some kind of artificer armor or weapon as well as high end bolt rounds with the supressed bolt being the most common besides normal and krak bolts. Axe of the Headsman- Mastercrafted two-handed power axe that was made for the chapter not long after being founded. It is warded to deal extra damage to warp entities and has the same smite ability found in the Deathwing maces. Used by the chapter champion known as the Grand-Interrogator, it falls on this grim champion to execute any Fallen that are beyond there usefulness to the Inner Circle, of which he is always a senior member of. Conviction's Embrace- Artificer terminator armor used by the Deathwing commander. It has a wrist mounted combi weapon, part stalker bolter and part storm bolter with all the barrels using the same ammo, on the same arm as a power claw. The other hand uses different weapons to suit the mission at hand but he prefers to use a plasma pistol. It has an Iron halo to further its survivability in combat, though the field it gives off can also be tweaked to offer a type of optic camo similar in effect to camoline though the user must remain still. (To Be Added) Chapter Fleet Most of there fleet is modified to be as stealth in its movement as possible, with star camo painted over most of their hulls like Blackships and advanced sensors to intercept enemy signals or communications and jam them when needed so as to not show up on most types of radar. They have a large amount of smaller voidships like frigates for there small size, this is to get there marines as well as there agents into or out of dangerous areas. Each company has a strike cruiser and several escorts for transport and support plus a large reserve fleet of cruisers and escorts that is used where needed. The Flagship is a Battle Barge simply named the Darkness and besides the star camo being the same is upgraded beyond even the already advanced systems of there fleet, including arcane wards to hide its presence from other arcane & psychic means, rendering it practically invisible to anything but the naked eye at close range. It was this ship that appeared in Pueblo's system when the Grand Master surprise visited the planet. Relations Allies [[Void Paladins|'Void Paladins']] After a tense situation with a Fallen captured by the Void Paladins the Tenebris Shades at first wanted to simply locate and destroy the renegade warband. Eventually they found out about several classified instances of them helping or outright saving Imperial citizens as well as military forces and decided to leave them alone. At the same time they committed a Cell to locating there homeworld and it was successful, the Grand Master himself traveled to the system and had a face to face with Vikres along with a shadowy member of the Inquisition taller in his robes than an astartes in power armour that was already present within Masada. Very few learned of what transpired with this meeting but to this day the Tenebris Shades have never divulged the location of Pueblo. Notable Quotes Feel free to Add your Own By the Tenbris Shades: About the Tenebris Shades: Category:Adeptus Astartes Category:Dark Angels Successors Category:Space Marine Chapters Category:Imperium